In the article, What Causes Breast Cancer?, by the American Cancer Society, they define risk factors as being “something that affects your chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors.” Since there is no proof of breast cancer having only one risk factor that causes it, different people believe different risk factors are at play for them.
There are many different risk factors that may play a role in breast cancer developing. Scientist believe it can be anything from gender to age to race to genetic inheritance to personal medical risk factors that increase our chances in being diagnosed with breast cancer.
According to, What Causes Breast Cancer?, by simply being a women you are about a 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer than a male. The American Cancer Society also states that,
“White women are slightly more likely to get breast cancer than are African-American women. But African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer. At least part of the reason seems to be because African-American women have faster-growing tumors, but we don’t know why this is the case. Asian, Hispanic, and Native–American women have a lower risk of getting and dying from breast cancer.”
Its interesting to see that, according to this article, Hispanic women have a lower risk of getting or dying from breast cancer because I personally have to two Mexican aunts who have both been diagnosed with breast cancer in their life time. I have yet to meet a women of any other race who has suffered from breast cancer.
Also according to the article, Higher Incidence Of Secondary Breast Cancer Seen Among Black Women Regardless Of Age, by Medical News Today, first time diagnose of breast cancer is higher among whites, but second time diagnoses of breast cancer was higher among African-Americans. They also state that nearly four percent of those who are diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time, somewhere down the line, they will be diagnosed with cancer for a second time either on the other breast or on the same one just in a different place.
Exposure to radiation to the chest has also been known to be a serious risk factor at a young age. The highest risk is to those teens whose chest was exposed to radiation because their breasts are still developing, increasing their chance to get breast cancer later in life.